Mirjana Todosijević

Accelerated soil degradation due to climate change, urbanization and intensive exploitation of natural resources is one of the most serious environmental challenges of our time. To preserve and restore soil resources, approaches based on conservation and ecological restoration are being developed. Hydroseeding stands out as an effective technique that allows for rapid greening and stabilization of eroded and difficult-to-access terrain. By combining seeds, water, nutrients and stabilizing components, this method contributes to the establishment of vegetation cover, reducing erosion and improving biodiversity. The paper analyzes the application of hydroseeding in the world and in Serbia, with a focus on its technical characteristics, environmental effects and possibilities for further application in the context of combating soil degradation.

Soil, as a crucial natural resource, is currently significantly degraded and destroyed. The impact of aggressive climate changes, primarily precipitation and temperature, has intensified and perpetuated this process. The main task is to adapt to such conditions by applying conservation measures that will mitigate climate changes, preserve the resource, and ensure economic benefits. By increasing awareness of climate change and the importance of preserving soil resources, we ensure the sustainability of both humans and resources.

Climate change has a direct impact on flash floods, and indirectly on the environment, society, and economy, due to the rapid development and difficulty of predicting this hydrological phenomenon. The main objective of this study is to assess the potential flash flood hazard areas in the Likodra watershed (218.62 km²), one of the most vulnerable parts to flash floods in Serbia, using the flash flood potential index (FFPI) and analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method. Recurring events from 1995 to this day and the devastating impact on settlements of the analyzed area show that this territory is extremely vulnerable. The data used include hydrological statistics (maximum daily rainfall) and spatial data on watershed geographical characteristics (slope, soils, land use, vegetation, drainage density) obtained or derived from various sources (maps, satellite images, digital databases) which were integrated into the GIS environment. The results indicate a severe flash flood hazard level, with high flash flood susceptibility classes occupying 76.20%, 87.78%, and 91.73% of the area, depending on the considered criteria and weights assigned to them.

The erosion potential model was applied to estimate the soil erosion status of rural settlements during the years 1971 and 2011. We used univariate and bivariate local Moran’s I indices to detect and visualize the spatial clustering of settlements with respect to changes in erosion intensity and agricultural land use, as well as their mutual spatial correlation. The study area was differentiated into four statistically significant clusters using the calculated bivariate local Moran’s I indices. The statistical analysis examined the two largest clusters, i.e., the high–high and low–low clusters, and the results of the research indicate that the first four principal components explained 70.50% and 73.47% of the total variance, respectively. In the high–high cluster, the low rates of erosion reduction (average Index Z = 98) in the most significant types of rural settlements were determined according to demographic indicators (i.e., the higher population vitality and population density, the smaller share of the old population and the lower average age of the population) and the large proportion of arable land and Neogene sediments. In the low–low cluster, high erosion reduction rates were detected (average index Z = 64). In this cluster, the more statistically significant influence of natural conditions in combination with demographic–agrarian processes (i.e., the larger share of the old population, the higher average age of the population, the lower vitality index and deagrarization) were decisive factors in changing erosion intensity.

Services of ecosystem are the benefits that ecosystems provide to the society. Ecosystem services are all kinds of benefits that humanity has from an established process system in the ecosystem. It covers the supply, regulation and support services and culture. Ecosystem products are resources derived from ecosystems, and humans use them in a natural or altered form. They are vitally important for people's lives. In Serbia, this natural capital is neglected, and monitoring is barely present. Services that the ecosystem provides to a human is very difficult to value. In order to understand the effects that can be obtained from an adequate management by nature, it is necessary to present them in a monetary way. Models have been developed that quantify and map the values of environmental services. Validating ecosystem services through the development of the methodology using the Invests model, provides ecosystem management and involvement in the planning and decision-making process. The models are a spatially explicitly integrated modeling tool that quantifies changes in ecosystem services, e.g. different ways of using soil, the amount of carbon in the soil, and so on. Usually uses maps and tables on the resources, natural resource management in the function of environmental protection, for example, which can be combined with the economic data. By developing a methodology for valorization of ecosystem services, mechanisms would be proposed and actions undertaken for possible monetary compensation of individual ecosystem services, as well as "penalties" due to degradation or inadequate soil management. Sustainability of natural resources and environmental protection is the primary task of our community. The concept of sustainability is real, only if the company is ready to invest in the preservation and restoration of natural capital to maintain the ecosystem and its services.

Soil erosion is a product of natural and anthropogenic factors and, at the same time, an economic and environmental concern. One of the methods applied to calculate the intensity of erosion is the erosion potential method (EPM), with two possible procedures for determining the average erosion coefficient of an area: analytical and graphical. Using GIS and EPM methods, without field observations of erosion, based on cartographic materials and satellite images, erosion maps were created for 1970 and 2018, for part of the peri-urban area of Belgrade. Based on the created erosion maps, the values of the mean coefficients of erosion, as well as the arithmetic means for the study area, were determined for the settlements. The aim of the study is to assess the reliability of the mean coefficient of soil erosion, obtained from the erosion map created from the cartographic materials and satellite images, without field observations of erosion. Thus, the obtained values of the mean erosion coefficient were compared with the values obtained from the erosion map with field observation and the values obtained by the analytical procedure. Statistical analysis (F test) for 1970 and for 2018 determined a high degree of reliability (p < 0.05) of the mean erosion coefficients of the area obtained from erosion maps that were created from cartographic materials and satellite images without field observation. Regardless of the procedure for determining the mean erosion coefficient, a significant decrease in soil losses was observed, from 10.64 to 5.97 t ha⁻¹year⁻¹ (average annual specific production of sediments, year 1970 and 2018, respectively).

Mechanization is engaged for the execution of works for torrent basins protection, and the selection of mechanization depends on the type and scope of works, the configuration of the terrain and the adopted technology of carrying out the works. Especially important is the use of machinery for earthworks, which has the largest scope in comparison with masonry and concrete work. For rational selection of mechanization, it is necessary to carry out all stages of wider and narrower choice of machines, and then the optimal choice of machines. The paper presents the optimal choice of machines for earthworks conducted in Petrovački stream basin, where the price of a unit of machine work was used as a criterion for the selection of machinery.

The main shortcomings in the implementation of the project for the regulation of torrent basins are the lack of application of the concept of planning and management. Planning, i.e. making plans, determines the need for resources (labor, materials, mechanization), duration of works and dynamics of works, which aims to economically build facilities in the shortest possible time and with minimal capacity (resources). To support the planning process, various programs can be used, which enable monitoring of the project implementation through its life cycle, i.e. initial ideas until its completion. The paper presents a comparative analysis of three computer programs, namely Primavera P6, Microsoft Project and GanttProject for planning the execution of works on the rehabilitation of the Kamenica dam.

This paper presents the results of an erosion processes research on the territory of the morphological unit of Sutilovacki stream, the prevention measures of same processes, as well as the justification of socio-economic investments and a sensitivity analysis of the economic efficiency parameters. The research includes a period from 2017-2032 year, whereby the evaluation methods of professor Gavrilovic are applied in erosion process intensity assessment, on the whole research area, and universal soil loss equation - USLE, on the agricultural land area. Different rates of soil erosion vulnerability are established on the whole research area by applying these methods. Present erosion processes are prevented by the predicted model of future production from the aspect of soil resource protection in the area of the city of Belgrade, by professor Zlatic (1994). Erosion soil losses are significantly diminished and reduced under a tolerable limit, along with the accomplishment of socio-economic justification of investment, examined by the dynamic methods of internal rate of yield, term for the repayment of invested funds, cost-benefit ratio, and net present value. In addition, an analysis of internal rate of yield sensitivity and term for repayment of invested funds are executed. The obtained data indicate justification of the investment.